Police: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona pedestrian

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TEMPE, AZ (KTVK) — According to the Tempe Police Department, a pedestrian was killed in an accident involving a self-driving car.

A woman was struck by one of Uber’s self-driving vehicles South of Curry Rd. on Mill Ave. overnight. According to authorities, there was an operator behind the wheel but the vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the collision.

The victim was crossing the road outside of the crosswalk when she was hit.

“She was transported to a local area hospital where she passed away from her injuries,” said Tempe police.

The accident comes just weeks after Governor Doug Ducey updated his autonomous vehicle executive order where he added updates to require all automated driving systems to follow all federal and state safety standards.

According to officials, Uber is assisting and there is an active investigation.

Uber officials released the following statement:

“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident.”

An Uber spokesman added that no passengers were in the back seat and one vehicle operator was in the front seat at the time of the accident.

At this time, the rideshare company has suspended their self-driving operations in Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.